It’s one small step for toons, one giant leap for toon kind as Disney Junior’s Mission Force One — the latest chapter of acclaimed series Miles from Tomorrowland — has become the first kids’ TV series to premiere in space. The episode “The Space Station Situation” appropriately debuted to astronauts on board the International Space Station earlier this week.
The episode, which features an exact replica of the ISS recreated from NASA’s original designs, was also shown at a private screening event at the nonprofit Space Center Houston (the official visitor center for NASA Johnson Space Center) this past weekend. General audiences can catch the TV debut on Monday, May 7 (5:30 p.m. EDT) on Disney Junior and DisneyNOW.
In “The Space Station Situation,” Miles and his friends travel back in time to prevent the International Space Station from getting stuck in the future, with help from the astronauts on board. Voicing themselves include NASA astronauts Scott Kelly, Jeanette Epps and Yvonne Cagle; the European Space Agency’s astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from Italy; Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko; NASA space station flight director Holly Ridings; and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Randii Wessen, Diana Trujillo, Bobak Ferdowsi and Kevin Hand. Bill Nye recurs as Professor Rubicon and the episode also features Grammy Award-winning banjo player Bela Fleck.
Mission Force One follows Miles Callisto as he leads a highly skilled team of friends, each with their own unique STEAM abilities, on exciting outer space expeditions. Experts from NASA, the JPL, the Space Tourism Society and Google serve as consultants on the series, which incorporates unique space and science facts into each storyline. Created and executive produced by Emmy-nominated Sascha Paladino (Henry Hugglemonster), the series is a production of Wild Canary in association with Disney Junior.
